December 1941: The horror of destruction at the US Naval Base of Pearl Harbor, which without warning was attacked by the Japanese airforce on the 7th of December 1941. The attack caused the USA to join the war. Seen here is the wreckage of a Japanese fighter bomber brought down during the attack.
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President Franklin Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.”

On that day, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor.

The bombing killed more than 2,400 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. Arizona and capsized the U.S.S. Oklahoma. The attack brought the United States into World War II.

The Japanese planes sank or beached a total of 12 ships and damaged nine others. 160 aircraft were destroyed and 150 others damaged. The attack took the country by surprise, especially the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base.